"In fact whatever exists

in the universe,

in essence,

in appearance,

in the imagination,

the painter has first

in his mind

and then

in his hands-

it lies in his power to create them..."

                                                            - Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

Hi there, I'm AnniePad and I will, hopefully, help you write your novel from the beginning to the end.

I will say this right in the beginning: if you don't understand something or you disagree with me, that's fine. You can always tell/ask me in the review or PM me.

So, let's begin with a TRUE story about writing:

In a small country in Europe lived a young, talented artist. Let's call her Tea. All Tea's teachers from school and Art teachers/Artist said she had a lot of talent and potential. She felt proud. She felt special and thought nobody her age can draw better than her. Soon, she started drawing less each day. Once upon a time she draw each day, now she draws once a week. But her talent stayed with her.

In the same small country, in the same town and school lived a boy whose name was Styo. He was Tea's BFF. They loved spending time together, talking and drawing or just listening to music. Styo also loved to draw and wanted to become a designer, but his teachers said he had no talent.

Styo was sad and angry because his teachers didn't believe in his dreams. So, he started drawing each day for several hours. Tea would often give him some advices and he would listen to her because she was the best young artist in town.

Years passed. Tea moved to a big city called Zagreb. She also became a student in Zagreb's Art Academy, the most accomplished Art Academy in the region.

Styo also moved to Zagreb and went together with Tea to the Art Academy.

His skills dramatically improved and teachers started to recognize his potential, while Tea's stayed mostly the same.

Tea was proud of Styo, even without talent he got enrolled in the Art Academy and was learning how to become an designer.

Each year in every school in that country starts a competition called "Croatia's national art competition". Students need to draw something connected to the given theme and the best of them goes to the finale and the title of the best young artist in Croatia.

Tea was sure of her victory because she was going to the elite Art Academy where only the best can get enrolled in and thought that put her above all the other Academies and with that even students. She didn't practice for the competition, believing in her talent.

Styo practiced hard for the competition, getting ready as best he could. He know he had no talent like the rest of the students, but he worked hard, harder than any of them.

And in the end his work paid of. He went to the finale, leaving all the talented students behind him.

This is not the end of the story, but I will stop myself here.

The point of this story is:

You don't need to have talent to accomplish something. Is it art, cooking or writing. You just need to practice. Maybe in the beginning it won't be the best story every, maybe it won't even be good, but you need to keep trying and after some practice you will write stories you can be proud of and then- only then- you can start calling yourself a true author.

If you have talent, good for you, use it, don't waste it like Tea. Talent by itself means nothing. Talent is just a starting point.

You are probably wondering why I'm telling you about talent and wasting it, well the thing is, I'm Tea and Styo is really my best friend and we are both artists. This means I'm not telling you a fairly tale about an ordinary boy winning a big prize, I'm telling you a story called REAL LIFE and this story comes from my experience.

Styo didn't have talent, but that didn't keep him away from drawing, his dream.

Now, he's an brilliant artist with a bright future in art.

In the beginning he had only his will to draw and that's the only thing he needed. That's the only thing all of us need.

Anybody with a story to tell can write a book-either for their own enjoyment or to publish for all to see (and hopefully buy). If you find yourself weaving creative narratives in your head as you read your favorite novels, or when you are relaxing in the park, consider writing your ideas down, they don't need to be perfect -prefect grammar, spelling, sentences, etc- just write them down and leave them like that for some time (2 weeks minimum), then reread them and if you find them interesting you have the very beginning for a story: an idea you are interested in and want to make a story out of it.

If you don't fell excited about writing a story about your idea, that can mean two things:

1.) You are "afraid" of writing your own story

2.) The idea is not good

Don't be afraid to write something. Maybe, it won't be good, but you will gain experience in writing and you will have fun doing it.

Give yourself some time to think things through. Writing a novel is a creative process (don't worry you don't have to be extra creative, just use your imagination a little bit every day) and you never know when a good idea might come to you. You can get it everywhere : in a coffee shop, in school, at work, while taking a walk or just sleeping and having nice dreams. That's why you need to carry a phone or traditionally a notebook and a pen or anything you can wrote on, so you can jot down ideas wherever you go (You cannot memorize it all, believe me, I tried).

You might feel inspired by something you hear on your morning commute, or while daydreaming in a coffee shop. You never know when you'll be inspired, so you should keep your eyes and ears open wherever you go.

And that's it for now.

In the next chapter I will explain in detail how to get an idea and how to create a story from it.

Until then, bye and keep writing ;)

AnniePad

2: Get Inspired

Many people probably want to write a story, but they just can't start. There can be many reasons for that, bad grammar or spelling, a busy schedule, they can't express themselves or they just think they don't have "talent" for writing.

That are lies you tell yourself because you are afraid of bad critics on your writing. If you really want to become a writer, the first thing you need is to accept critics as a good thing that will improve your writing not as a comment of some "hater" that will crash your selfestem and the will to write.

After you accepted that you cannot please everyone it's time to get inspired for you new or first book. Excited?

You won't finish your book in a day or a week, even a month.

Writing is a creative process that takes months or years and has many little "steps" you need to complete.

Remember this: Always go step by step, don't sprint into publishing your book too fast.

The first step-as you can guess from the title above-is getting inspired or rather how to get inspired.

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. - Jack London

Some writers wait for inspiration to come out of "nowhere" and then start writing.

That's a myth. You need to find inspiration on you own and work on your story every day - writing or just thinking about the plot and dialogs - disregard you have inspiration or not on what to write next.

Hey, I'm right now writing without inspiration, I'm just thinking where and how to find it.

Before you can start writing your story (not chapters) you need an inspiration. Inspiration is not just a desirable thing, it's an integral part of the writing process. By far the most common question asked of professional writers is where they get their ideas. We all like to think that brilliant, fully-formed story ideas just pop into the heads of our favourite authors. We imagine that if we could somehow learn their secret technique then we too could crank out bestsellers as effortlessly as they seem to.

The truth is that professional writers have many ideas which are connected and they put them into one perfect story.

Everybody has ideas and that includes reason you haven't wrote your book by now isn't a lack of great ideas; it's that you haven't been taught how to free these ideas from your brain.

Every how-to book on writing will tell you that you need to start with a solid premise, or story idea. What they rarely tell you is where this idea comes from in the first place. This is the cause of great frustration and confusion in beginning writers and has helped create the myth that you either have great story ideas or you don't.

Beginning writers believe that creating a work of fiction starts with a single event - a sudden burst of inspiration that pops a fully-formed story idea into their minds. This single event then leads to the process of expanding that idea into a finished work.

No, no and NO.

The secret to generating ideas is the same "secret" that solves every writing problem: writing itself. The old adage that "writers write" is true in many ways, and none more so than in idea generation.

Sitting in front of a blank page and waiting for inspiration to strike is not a recipe for success as a professional writer. Great ideas come from the act of writing.

But for now, let's keep on eyes, ears and minds on the starting idea.

Every writer needs to find inspiration in order to produce inspired writing. And sometimes, it can come from the unlikeliest sources.

You can and should start with almost anything that you find interesting. Maybe it's a location that fascinates you, a character sketch, a clever line of dialogue, or even a great title.

Take a day or two and just think about your favourite books, movies, celebrities, art, video games, etc -basically anything you are interested in.

You still cannot find inspiration from these thing or you just don't find them interesting enough?

No problem. You can also try these:

Overheard dialog- OK, I know this can get kinda creepy (more often than not), but try it anyway. If you're anywhere public, whether it be at a parky a mall or your workplace (at the end of the first chapter I mentioned these locations as great places to find inspiration -not by just overhearing dialog) , sometimes you'll need to eavesdrop on people. Not in a gross way or anything, just keep quiet, and listen. Sometimes overhearing a dialog doesn't happen on purpose - you can't help but overhear people sometimes, especially if they talk really loud. If you happen to overhear a snippet of interesting dialog, jot it down in your writing journal (notebook, phone, laptop or just a piece of paper) as soon as possible. It can serve as a model or inspiration for later writing -you never know.

Art- Yes, I know I mentioned this above, but as a artist I just cannot help myself. For me, there is no better inspiration that great art. Hours and hours of hard work to create a single peace of art is just amazing and when you think about it, artists also have to find inspiration somewhere. While it doesn't compare to the experience of seeing the art in person, I like to find inspiring works of art and put it on my computer desktop for contemplation. It doesn't matter what kind of art it is - Is it traditional or abstract, pencil or paint, sculpture or a building (Yes, architecture is a part of art). I've found inspiration in Japanese paintings (like Vincent van Gogh) , in stuff I've found on , in local galleries, etc.

Music- it can be inspiring to listen to music while writing, from Mozart to Beethoven to Elvis Presley to Bon Jovi. Play it in the background as you write, and allow it to lift you up and move you, it can also set the mood of the scene (If you are writing a happy scene try listening to the song Happy or if you are writing a break up scene try Taylor Swift, etc.) - I'm listening to Katy Perry while I'm writing this. I also recommend John Williams for lovers of classical music like me. Find someone who gets you inspired- listen every day to different singers/ composers and just daydream a little. If a particular singer gets your mind blown up like a firework (Yay, Katy Perry) you found him.

Quotes- I don't know why it's so, but great quotes help inspire me. I like to go to various quote sites to find ideas to spark my writing, turns of phrase that show what can be done with the language, motivation for self-improvement. When you find one that you like you can print it and put it somewhere you can always see or put it as you desktop background. My favourite is Leonardo's quote about inspiration- I have it printed altogether with his sketch of a horse and look at it whenever I need inspiration while drawing or writing. It really helps.

Nature- Go for a walk or a jog. Get away from sidewalks and into grass and trees and fields and hills. Appreciate the beauty around you, and let the inspiration flow through you. Outside is a bad whether? Surf the net for pictures of nature or watch a documentary or a movie (Hey I got inspired from my favourite movie Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, especially the scenes in Italy, at Lake Como). Sunsets and sunrises, of course, are two of my favorite uplifting scenes of nature, and anything involving water is also awesome - oceans, rivers, lakes, rain, rivulets, even puddles- no wonder I like AotC so much.

Dreams- dreams are interesting in their complete disregard for the rules of reality, for their otherworldness and plot twists. They range from normal and ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can have varying natures, such as being frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous, or sexual. The events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is self-aware. Dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration or give us an answer to a question.

Google- How can I not mention Google. Google has often helped me out (for inspiration and research). I'll just search for the topic I'm writing about and find tons of great resources and information.

Photography- Yep, again art. Photography of some of the most talented people in the world can show what everyday humans can do if they try and beautiful landscapes can get your mind blowing with ideas (example: you see a tree and you thought about a girl sitting under it and reading a book, then you create the girls background story, why is she sitting alone under a tree, etc).

Successful stories- Another of my favorites. When I was getting ready for my first story, for example, I read all kinds of successful and popular stories from the same genre. It inspired me to keep going and gave me plenty of ideas.

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream." - Vincent van Gogh

What kind of an artist would I be if I don't put a quote of my favourite artist who gets me inspired?

People- everybody has someone to look up to. We like the way they see the word, how they think and how they solve a problem called real life. I look up to Vincent van Gogh because even thought nobody belived in him, he kept going. His passion for painting and his unique perspective make him a great example how to threat life in some points and how not to (I'm talking about the years 1888.-1890.).

His works show of his emotions and present themselves to the people. The same should be with stories, the writer through his story should tell the reader how he feels. The reader needs to feel connected to the character to fully understand the story. And the character is only a mirror on how the writer feels.

That's it for now.

Bye *waves hand*

3: Genres

 

By now you should have an inspiration or an idea for your story. I hope it isn't another teen pregnancy story in which the parents are happy because their daughter got nailed, BFF turns boyfriend, enemies turns lovers, school romance with perfect girls and boys or a Mary Sue.

I mean, that was good the first time, but now it unoriginal, and somewhat boring (the ending is always the same!)

But, that is you story and I will not interfere with your idea.

Let's get started: 

Now that you have an basic idea it's time to chose the genre.

A genre is a label that characterizes elements a reader can expect in a work of literature.

I know it might be too early to think about genres, but in many ways this can help you. Many writers have problems in choosing the right genre because their mind gets ideas for their story in 2, 3 or more genres. If you chose right in the beginning that your story will be a Romance there is a big chance that your brain will form ideas in the direction of romance (well, that at least works for me).

If you don't chose a genre in the beginning your brain will constantly form ideas from random genres.

Also keep in mind that the genre is not fixed in stone. If you pick Romance and the flow of the story leads to a tragic dead or some other "disturbance", don't panic. Instead of taking the path you would like the story to end and not the natural ending, just change the genre from Romance to Tragic or whatever fits your story.

To chose a genre you need to know what a specific genre supports. You can already presume what a specific genre supports from other books you have read or movies.

So, here is what you need to do:

Sit down and mousse a little about your plot for the story. The plot doesn't have to completed, nor it must have any details, just the basic idea for the novel.

If you have any notes based on your idea, read them too.

This can take 5 minutes, 2 hours, even days. It all depends how much your plot has twists, romance, action, where the setting is, etc. 

Take your time. You don't have to do it imediatly, you can move forward with steps of your story and still not decide what genre is your book.

There are many subgenres and crossgenres you can chose from, but most authors states their novels in the following major genres: 

Drama- commonly used to refer to a genre of film or television which is more serious than comedy. An older meaning of 'drama' was the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. Drama as a genre is used to describe a story with rising tension and a serious plot. The ending can be happy or sad-commonly it's a sad ending, like in Hamlet where only the narrator survives.

Romance- Traditionally, a romance story involves chivalry, adventure and love. In modern writing, a story about character's relationships, or engagements (a story about character development and interpersonal relationships rather than adventures).

It has produced a wide array of subgenres, the majority of which feature the mutual attraction and love of a man and a woman as the main plot, and have a happy ending. This genre, much like fantasy fiction, is broad enough in definition that it is easily and commonly seen combined with other genres, such as comedy, fantasy fiction, realistic fiction, or action-adventure.

Satire- In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement.

Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humor in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit. A very common, almost defining feature of satire is its strong vein of irony or sarcasm, but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. The essential point, however, is that "in satire, irony is militant." This "militant irony" (or sarcasm) often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist actually wishes to attack.

Tragedy- is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in the viewing. The main character dies in the ending.

Comedy- Comedy is a story that tells about a series of funny or comical events, intended to make the audience laugh. It is a very open genre, and thus crosses over with many other genres on a frequent basis.

Action- An action story is similar to adventure, and the protagonist usually takes a risky turn, which leads to desperate situations (including explosions, fight scenes, daring escapes, etc.).

Action and Adventure are usually categorized together (sometimes even as "action-adventure") because they have much in common, and many stories fall under both genres simultaneously.

Adventure- An adventure story is about a protagonist who journeys to epic or distant places to accomplish something. It can have many other genre elements included within it, because it is a very open genre. The protagonist has a mission and faces obstacles to get to her destination. Also, adventure stories usually include unknown settings and characters with prized properties or features

Also, you need to known that genres can be either: a work of Fiction (nonfactual descriptions and events invented by the author) or a work of Nonfiction (a communication in which descriptions and events are understood to be factual).

 

In the beginning, I said I'll give you detailed examples and steps, so I chosed to parallelly write this How to and my new novel using my own advices stated in this work.

Okay, in the previous chapter, I stated how to get an idea. 

So, I went for a walk, watched some movies and played an awesome video game called Assassin's creed.

And out of nowhere, while I was playing the game I thought: "Hey, this game is based on historic events and characters. Hm, maybe I could try something similar."

I did some research, and found that the assassins described in the game really existed in Masyaf, until they were eliminated by the Mongol Empire (as stated in the game).

This idea really intrigued me both by the tragic death of so many assassin, and it would be a challenge to write a story based on real events from the POV of an assassin in the 12th century.

I have spent the last 2 weeks doing research, and thinking about the plot.

Two weeks later I have the basic idea and knowledge (I still have a lot research to do), and I'm ready to chose a genre.

The plot is set in the 12th century in Syria from an assassin's POV, which makes it a historical fiction. Also, I might change some information ,and that will make it a subgenre of historical fiction called Alternate history or historical fantasy.

I hope this was helpfully, also tell my what you think about my idea and you can tell me yours ;)

And I almost forgot, recently I got a PM, in which a reader asked me would I be interested in Beta Reading and helping 'in private' with a story.

The answer is always: "Of curse, I'll be more than happy to help you in any way possible. Is it grammar or spelling, getting an idea, outlining, characterization, or give you constructive criticism or simply guiding you through the whole process (Yep, I'm one of those Betas that will hold your hand through the whole process of writing, and you know what, that's okay, not everyone can stand constructive criticism).

So, if interested PM me, or comment/review with your request. I'm open to everybody and anything :D

AnniePad

P.S. If you don't know what a subgenre or cross genre supports tell me, and I'll make a chapter with all the subgenres and cross genres and what they stand for.

4: Research

Doing a little research before starting to write your story is important. It can prevent mistakes as putting a helicopter in the 17th century. Yep, I saw one like that. I don't know if it was intentional or the author (I won't name him/her) just didn't do some research before publishing the story for the whole word to see, especially for perfectionists like me, who see every little detail in a story.

Mistakes don't have to be big. They can be just little details, but when somebody sees them, he will probably comment on your story, and everybody who read that chapter will know of your mistake, even if they didn't spot it themselves.

It will spread like a disease.

Another great example is Stephenie Meyer and her book Breaking Dawn. We all know that humans have 23 pairs, vampires according to dear Stephenie, and werewolves 25.

Now that's all OK, except for this tiny detail:

Little cute, beautiful, utterly perfect Renesmee has 24 pairs of chromosomes. Rings a bell? No? Let me explain. In primary school, at a biology class (I think you learned this at a class called health? Correct me if I'm wrong. In Croatia we have a different educational program than in the rest of the world) I learned that there is a small popularity of people with 24 pairs of chromosomes.

People with this number of chromosomes (48) are rare, most of them don't live. And no, that's not because they are werewolves. They have this rare case called DOWN'S SYNDROM.

Now, you're like: "So what, she made a mistake with chromosomes. Who cares!"

Well, firstly, I care.

Secondly, it's Renesmee's description in the book that bothers me. It clearly says that little Renesmee is a little, beautiful genius with incredible growth, when in fact she should be a little deformed, mentally challenged, and will probably age the same way we do.

This is really a good example because we can see that even word famous authors, with bestsellers can make little mistakes. They are just humans, after all.

The point is:

Do some research on Wikipedia, read books, watch movies, take notes. It will help you a lot.

The more you got, the better.

This will not only help you in understanding your setting better, but it will also help you in getting some new ideas, describing your characters and settings, putting some important historical facts, etc.

In the previous chapter, I mentioned the research I did for my new book, Assassin which I'm writing parallely with this one following my own advices.

So, I created a new document in Word called Assassin, went to Wikipedia, Assassin's Creed.wiki, read some books, played the game a little bit more, etc.

This far I have 59 pages (31 709 words) of pure research, and I'm not even finished!

Yes, I know this seems like a lot of notes to read and it might be a little boring for someone to write, God forbid, read all that research.

If that is the case, rethink once again your story idea 'cause I think you are not into it as you should be.

But if you look forward to read it all, I could at least help you to make it a little easier to process.

Start with putting some colors into your text, you know, use markers and that stuff. Color the important words to stick out a little.

Also, put some pictures ( I have an chapter about Alamut, so, naturally I put some pictures with the landscapes of Alamut), diagrams, charts, etc.

All that will give it a nice, professional look.

That's it for now. Bye.

No, wait. I forgot to mention if you need any help finding information for your story, I will be happy to lend a hand. Furthermore, my statement from the previous chapter stands: I'll gladly check your story, you just need to ask.

Okay, that's it.

5: Protagonist

How well do you know your protagonist? Are you as intimate with him as you should be? Do you think of him/her just as the storyteller or someone that keeps the action going?

All the action, romance, or tragedy are in someway connected to your main character. We can say that he/she is in the center of the plot.

Coming up with a character is easy. You give them a name, an occupation, and a reason for visiting your story. Developing that character into a living, breathing, vital aspect of your manuscript, one that successfully propels your story forward, is another phenomenon entirely.

Good Characterization is why most people read fiction. Sure, you can draw your readers in with action, mystery, and romance, but thirty years from now, your readers will remember your characters the most.

(Or not...)

You will always remember Katniss, Holden, and Harry the boy who lived. These characters will stick in your brain for years, maybe longer even than some of your friends. However, other characters you forgot as soon as you closed the book.

NAMES

A couple of rules that I like to follow when it comes to developing character names:

1. make the name pronounceable.

2. make their name fit. If you're writing a story about white slavery, an unhappy stripper named Tatiana will convey the message more effectively than an unhappy stripper named Jane...

3. Watch out for the origins of the names. You don't want an English gentleman named Ivan...

Where do the names come from?

There are hundreds of websites with baby names and they all have the meaning and origins of the name. You can also check some books, magazines, TV shows, movies, etc...

Try to be original. Find an unusual name (I'm sick of all those Ashleys and Katherines (a.k.a. Katy)).

If you have a couple of options, make a list. Put it down for a couple of days and then reread it. Do you still like all of the names? Do they still sound as good as the first time you saw them? The ones you decided you don't like that much put away into a document or write it onto a new peace of paper for later use (maybe it will be good for your next book, or a secondary character. You never know).

BACKGROUND

We all have a past, right? Why won't our characters have them then?

Start with something simple, like hair color, eyes and skin color, age, profession, hobbies, education, height, weight...anything you can find in the real word. And please, try some color that isn't emerald green or sky/sea blue. There are various shades of brown, gray, and mixes of two or thee different colors. Also, not all people have milky white skin. There are other rases, too. Like Afro-Americans and Asians. Think a little about that...

Oh, and visit this blog from a friend of mine- https://anunconventionalmind.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/bring-on-the-book-reviews/

She has beautiful stories with perfect grammar, spelling and characterization (I won't even talk about her way of describing things), and most importantly they are all unique... Now, I put the link above 'cause in that post she writes how she felt when she couldn't find any black people in books as main characters. She opened my eyes with that post and I'm sure yours too.

Back to the topic...

If you have problems finding a name or starting describing your character try this webpage called Litlift where you already have a list of questions and information about your character you just need to fill in. You also, have a tool in which the page randomly creates a character (great for one-scene characters) with the description of eye colors, hair past, relationships, job, etc. Litlift has many tools necessary in creating a story, such as characterization, creating a setting, items, writing a scenes and then putting them into chapters, creating a plot,... Everything you need for your story.

After you created a simple character card, using it try to write a short biography. Find someones biography, see what is mentioned (important) and what is left out (unimportant). That way you will also prepare yourself for all that writing to come, and you will get to know your character very well...

It's also important to put the character's emotions. For example, how he/she felt when he was bullied in school, and how that plays a role as he/she grows up.

It doesn't have to be perfect. You can have terrible grammar, missing words, plot holes,... as long it helps you create a realistic character.

As for the character, give him/her some flaws, nobody is perfect.

GROWING UP

Always, ALWAYS make your character improve as the story comes to an end. As the story goes, and your character gathers new information and experience his opinions will also change. It could be for the better or worse. Some writers make the "mistakes" of making their characters all good as time flows by. Stop it. Let the characters step a little into the dark side.

The end.

Okay, that should be the basics of your characters. You can always add more information or change it.

And remember: don't follow the biography strictly, let the biography follow the plot!

Now, to the example I promised:

Name: Altair Nejem

Born: 1165. in Masyaf

eye color: dark-brown

hair: brown, almost black

job: Assassin (student)

- arrogant, reckless, smart, brave, skilled with a sword...

-lives in Masyaf

-likes peace and quiet, ridding horses...

So, I left out some information (the book would be boring if I told you everything about my protagonist now, but you should be able to see in which direction it goes.

And that should be it.

Feel free to leave questions in the comments :)